


In My Dreams, You're with Me

by makingitwork



Series: "I'm gonna fix this place up" [1]
Category: Bates Motel (2013)
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff, Happy Ending, Norma Bates needs a hug, Normero, Possible season 4 spoilers, big daddy of white pine bay, insane Norman, possessive, protective, slightly AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-04
Updated: 2017-04-04
Packaged: 2018-10-14 15:41:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10539480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makingitwork/pseuds/makingitwork
Summary: Alex keeps having dreams about what he and Norma's life could be together.





	

Alex keeps having dreams.

  
Weird, creepy...wonderful, alluring dreams.

  
1950 American Family nuclear-retro dreams.

  
In them, he wakes up to sunshine, and gets dressed in an old fashioned police uniform, and leaves his braces hanging around his hips as he walks into the kitchen, where the smell of a fantastic hot breakfast is waiting for him. The sun beams through the kitchen windows, framed by handmade curtains, and the table is set, and he sits and picks up a newspaper. He can' read any of the stories in it, but it doesn't matter because his wife kisses his cheek and puts coffee in front of him.

  
"Morning, hun," Norma smiles, and her golden hair is curled around her ears, and she's wearing a pretty dress and a light brown belt. "How'd you sleep?"

  
"Good," he answers, and kisses her, and his face hurts from all the smiling.

  
Dylan- only, it's not Dylan, it's a 12 year old Dylan, with a clean shaven face and wild hair comes running in, and starts guzzling his breakfast down.

  
"Woah, woah, Dylan," Norma scolds fondly "sit down, chew your food, it's not going anywhere!"

  
"Emma wants me to walk to school with her." Dylan whines, his foot tapping impatiently against the floor. His face is still flushed and slightly wet from his shower. "Please mom! Please!" He turned to look at Alex, whose heart throbs with love. Alex looks at Norma, and they share a secret grin, and Norma sighs

  
"Emma, huh?" She says, folding the brown paper bag containing Dylan's lunch as she hands it to him. He flushes under her inquisitive gaze, but he can't move away from the hands smoothing down his hair. Or attempting to.

  
"Yes. Emma." He grumbles, eyes sliding to the floor bashfully.

  
"Nice girl." She comments nonchalantly, and Alex hides his laugh behind a mouthful of coffee.

  
"Mom."

  
She chuckles, and kisses his forehead, and he hugs her, before shooting Alex a grin and darting out of the house "Bye dad!" He yells, and Alex laughs and calls his goodbyes.

  
"I like Emma," Norma says thoughtfully, and Alex nods, standing up and sliding up his braces and grabbing his jacket.

  
"Me too." He replies, straightening his collar, "I better go, I'll be home by five,"

  
She wraps her arms around his waist, and they stay still for a moment, basking in the warm glow of each other.

"M'okay," she teases "I'm gonna replant the primroses in the front garden, wouldn't that look nice? And maybe make Emma a dress. She's such a pretty girl. Maybe when they're older, she and Dylan can be together."

  
"Mmm," he says, low in his chest, and captures her lips in a soft, perfect kiss. She softens against him, and he grows warm. "Maybe I should skip work,"

  
She laughs, full bodied and delighted against him "Sheriff! What a scandalous thing to say!"

  
He laughs; openly, freely, and kisses her forehead, before heading out into the sunshine. When he pulls out of their stunning front lawn, he looks out of the window and she's leaning against the door in her sun yellow cardigan, waving goodbye. He grins at her, and drives to work. Neighbours call a friendly good morning and he spots Dylan jumping over Emma's oxygen tank as they walk to school to make her laugh, which she is.

  
He laughs because he's never been this happy.

  
It's a nice neighbourhood, and everyone is his friend, and he's married the love of his life, and he loves his son, and everything's perfect.

 

He nearly cries when he wakes up, because he's never that happy.

 

  
He wakes up to a persistent knock at the door of the motel room, and he's barely sitting up before the door bursts open anyway and Norma is standing there, breathless and pinched faced.

  
"Shouldn't you wait till I answer the door?" He hisses, startled and uncomfortable, and impossibly fond. His face is hard and angry, but only because his dream is fading, and he can't lie in the pillows and pretend for a while longer. "Before you know- just barging in- I hope this isn't how you treat your other guests, Norma, because-"

  
"You're right."

  
Alex pauses, staring at her "I'm what?"

  
"You're right. You're right, you were right about everything." She hugs herself, shaking and sobbing "You were right- Norman- Norman, he needs help, he needs PineView, you're right-"

  
"Norma, what are you talking about? Did something happen?" He's getting out of bed, his embarrassment at being caught in only his boxers nothing compared to the need to be close to her, to comfort her. He holds her arms, near the crook of her elbow and she folds into him like she's broken.

  
"He needs help, he just needs help," she whispers, her lashes clumped with tears "I-I don't know what to do, I'm so scared, I don't-"

  
"I'll take care of it." He promises, wrapping his arms around her, and he feels whole like this. When she's safe and protected. Alex isn't good at many things, but taking care of those he loves? Protecting? Doing anything to stop the one he loves from being hurt? He's pretty good at that. If they'll let him. "I'm going to take care of it, Norma, okay? I'll get him into Pineview, and he'll get the help he needs. It's going to be okay. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

  
"No, no, he didn't hurt me," she pulls back as though the idea is ludicrous, but Alex won't let her leave his arms completely. "He's just...he keeps saying we had conversations that never happened, and- there's this earring, this earring keeps popping up from out of nowhere and I don't know what to do!" She looks up at pleadingly, and he nods.

  
"It's going to be okay. Are you going to let me take care of it?"

She nods weakly, and he kisses her temple. It's maybe too much, but she's too emotionally distraught to notice.

"Okay. Okay I trust you."

  
...

  
...

  
...

  
"Dad, c'mon, please!"

  
"Buddy, I'm tired, I just got back from work," Alex sighs, and Dylan pouts.

Alex can stay strong for about two seconds, before he's heaving himself up and dragging his body out into the garden to toss a ball with his son and listen proudly to how Dylan's school work is going, and how well Emma's doing (the weather's getting warmer and it helps her breathe easier).

  
"And there's this new teacher- Mr Shelby, I don't have him for anything, but Emma says he's really mean. And it's so weird, none of the teachers are mean, you know?"

  
Alex catches the ball thoughtfully, and the edges of his vision start to blur

  
"Boys! Dinner's ready!" Norma's voice calls from inside the house.

  
"Coming!" Dylan calls, and picks his shoes up from where they've been lying in the soft grass, and they both turn to go inside.

  
"Dinner's ready!"

 

 

"Alex, you fell asleep," Norma touches his shoulder and Alex jerks under her touch. "C'mon Sheriff, I made dinner," she grins and Alex's whole body relaxes.

He realises he fell asleep on the couch listening to the sounds of her cutting vegetables. It's...good, different to what he thought, but good, their marriage. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, her eyes seem to sparkle when she looks at him, and he can pretend that it's like his dreams. Where they married for love and not insurance.

  
He doesn't feel like he lives in the house, and Dylan's old room is creaky and cold, but it's worth it.

  
Dinner is delicious, they sit opposite each other and Norma talks at him- a mile a minute, and he smiles more than he has in a long while.

  
Dylan walks in towards the end, and freezes in the doorway as though he can't believe what he's seeing.

  
Alex wonders at the sight they must make. Him in his lazy clothes, and Norma in a pretty dress, her hair smooth and calm, not frazzled because, crucially, Norman is gone. Everything's right.

  
"Hey Norma...Sheriff,"

  
"Hey Dylan," she smiles softly, rising "Come sit, there's enough left overs to feed an army,"

  
"No- no-" his eyes keep sliding to Alex's "Thanks, but no. I just came by to see how you were doing without Norman. You're...doing well, though."

  
Alex likes Dylan. Understands Dylan. Knows what it's like to be an outsider, to have a good heart and no one to be good to. He's enjoyed seeing Norma and Dylan soften to each other. Dylan could be good for her.

  
"Come on, you gotta eat. Sit." She's heaping on piles of hot food, and Dylan blossoms shyly under her care. "I know, it's sad, but Norman's somewhere better now, they can...they can take better care of him than I can. And it's not like it's forever, you know? And Alex- he was kind enough to..." she looks at Alex who stares back "kind enough to...you know, legally bind himself to me for the insurance to pay for Norman's care."

  
Dylan frowns " _legally bind_ like how?"

  
Alex thinks she's going to lie for a second, but she just says casually under her breath "We're married. Anymore gravy?"

  
"You're married?!"

  
"Dylan, please-"

  
"Mom, I-" Dylan looks between the two of them, and laughs in disbelief. "Well, alright then." He says, and picks up his knife and fork. Norma appraises him curiously "I'm just- sorry I missed the wedding."

  
Alex snorts before he can help himself, and Norma beams in surprise.

  
"No but...yeah, good. That's good. I'm happy for you both." Dylan smiles to himself, cutting into the meat, and Alex and Norma meet each others eyes and shrug. Happy and relaxed.

  
As Norma serves dessert, and the three of them talk about "safe" topics, Alex can feel his dream coming to life. The house is a bit derelict, and sometimes the conversation is tense, and all the love around the table seems to be trapped behind barbed wire gates of difficulty and bad past experience, but it's there.

  
...

  
...

  
...

  
"Um, Alex? What are you doing?" Norma asks, leaning against the doorframe of her bedroom as Alex tugs at the curtain rails.

  
"I'm replacing your curtains with thicker ones."

  
"Okay..?"

  
He sighs, shoulders tense, and he turns around to look down at her from the chair he's balanced on.

"Look...sometimes, from the motel, at night, when you're changing and the light's on- you're visible."

  
She blinks slowly "I am?"

  
"Yeah."

  
"Oh." She crosses the room to hold the curtains he's pulling down and help him. He accepts it wordlessly. "I uh...can't help but notice that you're only mentioning this to me now. Instead of during all the months you lived in the motel."

  
Alex stares at her. "I didn't notice till I was coming home the other night."

  
It's a lie, and she knows it. She doesn't say anything, but her cocky, teasing grin is enough.

  
"Come down off the chair, Alex," she says softly, and he breathes out a controlled breath through clenched teeth

  
"I'm fixing them, Norma-"

  
"Come down."

  
He does, because he'd do anything for her. He'd destroy himself and the whole town to make her smile.

  
So when she folds her arms around his neck, and presses her soft chest into his hard one, he feels off balance and unsure.

  
"C'mon," she coaxes, like he's a wild cat "let's give the motel something to watch," and she's kissing him, and it's real and Alex burns with a passion he didn't know he could feel. He hoists her up, and her legs twine around his waist and they fall an entangled mess on the bed.

  
He wakes up before her, worried about what'll happen next, but she only opens her eyes, draws near and kisses the underside of his jaw.

  
"I don't think I've ever seen you smile so much," she says, smug but pleased, in the white light of the dawn. The curtains are half hanging down and there's clothes everywhere- including a ripped pair of tights when Norma had gasped and writhed in a way that made Alex lose all sense of control.

  
"Yeah well...I'm happy." He defends, and she giggles, and he holds her close. She presses a point on his neck and he winces in pain at the hickey, arching an eyebrow at her.

  
"What?" She grins "I just want everyone to know that you're mine. That harmless little Norma Bates got the Big Daddy of WhitePine Bay to marry her."

  
He laughs; delighted. " _Harmless_? Oh, I don't think so."

  
She likes that, and straddles him in reward.

  
He never sleeps in Dylan's old room again.

  
...

  
...

  
...

  
"Thanks again, Mrs Martin," Alex says into the phone "I hope Dylan and Bradley have a good time, we'll pick him up in the morning. Well thank you, you too, thanks again, bye, bye bye," He puts the phone down and straightens his bowtie. "You ready, baby?"

  
Norma steps out of the bedroom in a vintage picnic dress that floats out beginning at her hips. It's deep purple, and her hair is curled into a perfect bob. Her pearl earrings glitter like her eyes.

  
"You look...beautiful."

  
Norma beams, and lets him slide her coat onto her shoulders. "You don't look too bad yourself," she winks "is Dylan okay?"

  
"He's fine, he and Bradley are gonna stay up and read comics," they walk into the brisk night, and his hand is firm and protective on the small of her back.

  
"That's good. And try to have fun tonight, honey, you deserve more nights of commemoration. You singlehandedly keep this town running so smoothly."

  
"I think once a year is enough," he chuckles.

  
He does have a good night though, they drink champagne, and he gets toasted and complimented many, many times. Norma is glued to his side, and he keeps a possessive hand spread on her lower back and hip, proud to call her his.

  
When they get home, giddy and flushed, he worships her and she tugs at his hair and screams his name.

  
It's heaven.

 

 

"You look dressed up." Dylan remarks, eating an apple as he heads for the door. Alex shifts uncomfortably in his tux.

  
"Sheriff's dinner. Annual tradition. It's bullshit."

  
Dylan laughs "isn't everything in this town?" His eyes flicker to the empty stairs and to Norma's door. He grins "you uh...taking Norma?"

  
The Sheriff eyes him "she wanted to go, you know what your mother's like."

  
Dylan can't stop his smile. He tries to hide it behind his apple "oh yeah, sure I do." He grins again.

  
Alex rolls his eyes "shut up, kid, go, go wherever it is you're going and don't wait up."

  
"You know I don't actually live here," Dylan teases, but he spends so much time around lately that he might as well. Alex notices how Dylan seems to like being called "kid", even though he hasn't been one for a long time. "Have fun, Sheriff, or should I start calling you dad?" He pats Alex's shoulder, and heads out, still grinning, and Alex has to fight one of his own.

  
"How do I look?" Norma calls, and Alex stares up at her.

  
It's a long blue dress, that matches her eyes. She's crystals and diamonds and every beautiful thing in the world. "You're...a vision."

  
She beams, and floats down the stairs to him. He can't stop staring. How did he get here? When did this happen? He nearly crashes the car because he can't help admire her, but when they get there. She's perfection, and she's his, and when he hesitantly- cautiously- nervously puts a hand on her waist, to ward off her admirers, she brings her hand up to play with the hair at the back of his neck, and he knows that suddenly, everything's going to be okay.

  
The dreams stop, that night.

  
He doesn't need to dream anymore.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts for more in this series? 
> 
> And you know comments- comments are life and I don't wanna die and be kept in a freezer surrounded by dead birds. 
> 
> Also- just something to know about me- I cried during the CPR scene with Alex. It was beautiful and tragic and amazing


End file.
